When fastpitch was king

Softball reunion celebrates good ol' days.

Softball reunion celebrates good ol' days.

June 20, 2006|LAUREEN FAGAN Tribune Staff Writer

They're headlines no one has seen in about 40 years. But at a recent softball reunion, players from Mishawaka-area teams got a chance to reminisce and relive the glory days of fastpitch softball. "De Meyer's No-Hitter Shoves Guarantee Oil Into Semifinals," was just one of the newspaper clippings and other memorabilia -- in this case, from August 1968 -- on display at the DeAmicis Club. "The hardest to hit was Ralph's brother George," said Stan Laidig, 77, of Mishawaka, as he laughed about the De Meyer boys over beer and pizza, just like old times. "There's another one I couldn't hit," said Bob Sweazy, 76, of Elkhart, as another pitcher entered. Which one? "How many pitchers were there?" he countered as everyone had a good laugh. "They were all tough." Ralph De Meyer said he and Walter "Dado" Vernasco planned the reunion for guys from teams of the era. American Legion Post 303. Studebaker's. The BK Club and Wagner Steel. "This really covers close to a 40-year span of top flight fast pitch," said Vernasco, a 69-year-old former catcher living in Mishawaka. "There were a number of years when many of us got together, two, three times a week," he said. "You got to be a little bit chummy." The last reunion was three or four years ago, he said. "This is quite possibly the last roundup," he said. "We're getting to that age where, who knows what tomorrow brings?" Ralph De Meyer, 77, of Osceola, said he pitched for 30 different teams since 1945. "We've got a combination of all the players, positions and everything else," De Meyer said. "We had 80 responses." He didn't bring all of his photo collection, though. "I've got so many pictures, there's no way I could bring them all," De Meyer said, explaining that he started playing for the VFW at age 16. "The war was just done," he said. "Softball was really big." And with so many years between them all, the camaraderie for the players and their spouses is always something special to celebrate. "We're all getting older by the day," said Phil D'Hoore.